Tipping for Dinner and other unknown fees??

[Maesa]

We are getting ready for our cruise this week !! Woohoo! This will be our first Disney Cruise - So I have been watching youtube vdo's for tips and tricks. One vdo was talking about tipping your waiter for the dinners and this will be charged to your room bill. I thought gratuity was included in the price of the cruise. Or was she talking about tipping extra gratuity.

OH - and she mentioned that the kids club charges a fee? About $60 something per kid. Is this right?

Also - when ordering alcohol drinks - how much do you tip the bar tender? $1 per drink?

And of course I know to tip for room service.

Any ideas or advice?

 

[PrincessTrisha]

gratuities are charged per person, per day and yes, DCL adds them to your room bill. You may have pre-paid your gratuities - I'd check with your Travel agent or your cruise confirmation documents.

Any drink you pay for will have gratuity already added to the bill. You just need to sign it.

DCL does not have additional fees for the kids clubs over the age of 3 (under 3, the nursery does charge per hour).

 

[samily]

Unless you have prepaid your gratuities, your onboard account will be charged 12.00 per guest, per day - this covers your server, assistant server, head server, and stateroom attendant. You can adjust this amount up or down as you see fit at Guest Services or you can add extra cash to the tip envelopes.

No charge for the kids clubs (ages 3-17); however the nursery (ages 0-3) does charge an hourly fee per child.

A gratuity is automatically added to all bar tabs. There will be a line on the receipt to add an additional gratuity if you so choose.

 

[wilkeliza]

Can someone link to this terribly wrong YouTube video? This is the 2nd person to come on saying they heard the kid's club has a fee.

OP - your dinning team and room steward are tipped per a person, per a night at a rate Disney sets. You can prepay that amount by calling Disney or charge it to your on baord account. You can adjust the tip to be lower by going to Guest Services or higher by adding money to the envelopes they give you.

Alcohol is a cost so tip how you would off shore. As pp mentioned it is automatically added to your tab anyways.

There is no extra fee to use the kids club. They charge a small deposit to your on board account for the wrist bands but it is removed if you return them. It seems some very inexperienced cruisers seem the gratuity charges on their kids name and assume it is for the kids club when it is not.

 

[NS8VN]

Can someone link to this terribly wrong YouTube video? This is the 2nd person to come on saying they heard the kid's club has a fee.

If anyone is a subscriber to that person please try convincing them to add an annotation correcting their misunderstanding. It is such a disservice to their viewers having such a significant false statement that it is in everyone's best interest to have it corrected.

 

[TestingH2O]

Can someone link to this terribly wrong YouTube video? This is the 2nd person to come on saying they heard the kid's club has a fee.

I had the same thought. I'm very curious where this information is coming from.

Alcohol is a cost so tip how you would off shore. As pp mentioned it is automatically added to your tab anyways.

The ship automatically adds 15%. If you'd like to add more, you can. I found myself adding some on this trip because the service was just so good.

 

[tink1970]

So glad you asked so you can get a better idea of the pricing structure. As @wilkeliza mentioned, when the final bill is presented every person on the reservation is listed and their charges are enumerated. Since there is now automatic gratuities each person in the room will have that listed under their name. Changes in these gratuities if you feel necessary made be made at Guest Services. If your child walks away with a kids club band that's a $13 charge.

 

[cmph]

The booklet that came with your luggage tags details the auto-gratuties that you will be charged (assuming you have not pre-paid), if you want to see the breakdown in an official DCL document of who gets what amount.

It is really weird that someone is talking (again) about the kids' club charging for entrance. FYI - they don't require tipping either. I know I've seen people ask that question too. Even if they are referring to the auto-charge for the magic band, it's nowhere near $60! And it can be returned and the charge removed anyway.

Oh - and yes, we generally added a $1 to the bartender tip. The drinks are really not bad prices for what we are used to paying, and 15% of that isn't all that much when we normally tip 20% at home. But that's certainly not a requirement, just what we do. Plenty of people don't leave any extra tip, and that's perfectly fine. It's weird that DCL has the tip line AND the automatic 15%, b/c it's just confusing to many folks.

 

[kid-at-heart]

In addition to bar drinks, I believe that coffee bought from the Cove already has a tip added to the bil. Perhaps someone else will jump in here and confirm or correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Msmit002]

Since you said you are sailing for the first time, I'll just say this:

There is no such thing as an 'unknown' fee being assessed. If you aren't paying attention, you might miss something, but they won't charge you for anything you weren't made aware of ahead of time. What this means is, pay attention to your documents the cruise line give you (usually mailed to your home a few weeks prior to cruising.) They will outline when and where you will incur charges. Pay attention anytime a cast member is asking you to sign anything. Most times this is going to be for items that will be billed directly to your shipboard account (notable exception are waivers for the kids club, activities, etc.) and if there is an automatic gratuity it will list it.

But as I said, if you aren't paying attention, you could miss it.

 

[dcr]

They have corrected their statement in the comments section of their video. It seems that they didn't know that the standard $12 per day gratuity also applied to children.

 

[diznymom]

Also, any and all spa services and purchases have an automatic 18% gratuity added on.

 

[wilkeliza]

They have corrected their statement in the comments section of their video. It seems that they didn't know that the standard $12 per day gratuity also applied to children.

SMH because children aren't people? I've only seen the official stuff say per a person not per an adult. It isn't like kids sail free or even reduced rates.

 

[LAX]

Maybe it's DCL's competitors trying to spread false rumors? On a more serious note, is there a good reason to prepay gratuity rather than having it charged to onboard account for settlement at the end?

LAX

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Maybe it's DCL's competitors trying to spread false rumors? On a more serious note, is there a good reason to prepay gratuity rather than having it charged to onboard account for settlement at the end?

LAX

Well, it would be paid for precruise. Not as much sticker shock at the end of the cruise.

 

[LAX]

Well, it would be paid for precruise. Not as much sticker shock at the end of the cruise.

If I can get over the real sticker shock at the time of initial booking, another few hundreds would just be a literal drop in the bucket!

LAX

 

[cgolf]

Maybe it's DCL's competitors trying to spread false rumors? On a more serious note, is there a good reason to prepay gratuity rather than having it charged to onboard account for settlement at the end?

LAX

After many cruises, hoodies, and other assorted DCL gear, we started to try and live off our obc. By prepaying the gratuities, it gave us some more money to spend on board. I realize that the money is the same regardless, but we use the obc like a spending limit.

Since you are going on your first, I am guessing you will be like we were on our first few and pick up some cool DCL gear

 

[disboardlover]

We are getting ready for our cruise this week !! Woohoo! This will be our first Disney Cruise - So I have been watching youtube vdo's for tips and tricks. One vdo was talking about tipping your waiter for the dinners and this will be charged to your room bill. I thought gratuity was included in the price of the cruise. Or was she talking about tipping extra gratuity.

OH - and she mentioned that the kids club charges a fee? About $60 something per kid. Is this right?

Also - when ordering alcohol drinks - how much do you tip the bar tender? $1 per drink?

And of course I know to tip for room service.

Any ideas or advice?

Unlike many other cruise lines, on DCL the $12/day/person is split among the 4 people as detailed; it shows up on your account and is charged to your credit card on file unless you take care of your account on a cash/gift card basis.

You are welcome to adjust the gratuities up or down as you see fit at Guest Relations. However, you get a perforated form with the charged gratuities and little envelopes on the last day of the cruise so that you can give them to each of the 4 persons on the last night of your cruise, or on the morning of disembarkation. If you want to give extra tips, you can do so directly with cash, rather than go to Guest Relations.

As has been stated, unless you are using the nursery, there is no charge for the kids clubs, and you are not expected to tip any of the counselors; in fact, they are not supposed to accept any gratuities, though I think they do have a process on what is done if gifts are given. However, there is a charge (deposit) for magic bands that are given to be worn by kids during the cruise to check in and out of the clubs. These bands also let the counselors at the check in know exactly which room or area your child is in one of the clubs (hence, the magic). If you do not return these bands on the last day of the cruise, you can keep them as a souvenir, but you won't get your deposit refunded of course.

All drinks are automatically charged a gratuity; you are welcome to add more if you would like.

Yes, room service is free, but you should tip the person bring it to your stateroom, the amount depending on how much they bring I guess.

 

[LAX]

After many cruises, hoodies, and other assorted DCL gear, we started to try and live off our obc. By prepaying the gratuities, it gave us some more money to spend on board. I realize that the money is the same regardless, but we use the obc like a spending limit.

Since you are going on your first, I am guessing you will be like we were on our first few and pick up some cool DCL gear

By prepaying, do you mean overpaying your booking so that your onboard account would have a negative balance equal to the amount that gratuity will be charged later on? Or is there an option for you to ask the charge to show up on your account pre-cruise and pay prior to boarding?

LAX

 

[over50visits]

There are a few non-negotiable "gratuities" (I put it in quotes since even if the service is bad you owe it..). The spa adds a gratuity, up front. All bars and coffee shop. And, surprisingly, the snack bar outside the theaters adds a gratuity when you buy candy or popcorn over the counter!